Potential Utilization of Metal–Organic Frameworks in Heterogeneous Catalysis: A Case Study of Hydrogen‐Bond Donating and Single‐Site Catalysis

Crystalline solid materials are platforms for the development of effective catalysts and have shown vast benefits at the frontiers between homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts. Typically, these crystalline solid catalysts outperformed their homogeneous analogs due to their high stability, selectivity, better catalytic activity, reusability and recyclability in catalysis applications. This point of view, comprising significant features of a new class of porous crystalline materials termed as metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) engendered the attractive pathway to synthesize functionalized heterogeneous MOF catalysts. The present review includes the recent research progress in developing both hydrogen‐bond donating (HBD) MOF catalysts and MOF‐supported single‐site catalysts (MSSCs). The first part deals with the novel designs of urea‐, thiourea‐ and squaramide‐containing MOF catalysts and study of their crucial role in HBD catalysis. In the second part, we discuss the important classification of MSSCs with existing examples and their use in desired catalytic reactions. In addition, we describe the relative catalytic efficiency of these MSSCs with their homogeneous and similarly reported analogs. The precise knowledge of discussed heterogeneous MOF catalysts in this review may open the door for new research advances in the field of MOF catalysis.     

Conjugated Microporous Polymers for Heterogeneous Catalysis

Conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) are a class of crosslinked polymers that combine permanent micropores with π‐conjugated skeletons and possess three‐dimensional (3D) networks. Compared with conventional materials such as metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs), CMPs usually have superior chemical and thermal stability. CMPs have made significant progress in heterogeneous catalysis in the past seven years. With a bottom‐up strategy, catalytic moieties can be directly introduced into in the framework to produce heterogeneous CMP catalysts. Higher activity, stability, and selectivity can be obtained with heterogeneous CMP catalysts in comparison with their homogeneous analogs. In addition, CMP catalysts can be easily isolated and recycled. In this review, we focus on CMPs as an intriguing platform for developing various highly efficient and recyclable heterogeneous catalysts in organic reactions. The design, synthesis, and structure of these CMP catalysts are also discussed in this focus review.     

Carbohydrate-based nanostructured catalysts: applications in organic transformations

The requirement of green and sustainable materials to prepare heterogeneous catalysts has intensified for practical reasons over the past few decades. Carbohydrates are possibly the most plentiful and renewable organic materials in nature with inimitable physiochemical properties, plausible low-cost and large-scale production, and sustainability features could be exploited in the generation of nanostructured heterogeneous catalysts. This review article outlines the organic transformations catalyzed by diverse carbohydrate-based nanostructured catalysts in greener and environmentally friendly processes. Selected examples are highlighted for a variety of organic reactions exploiting the proposed catalysts’ reactivity and reusability, and interactions with the intrinsic nature of the applied carbohydrate supports; advantages and speculated challenges of the introduced catalysts are deliberated as well.     

Application of photoluminescence spectroscopy to elucidate photocatalytic reactions at the molecular level

The present review covers the outline of the application of photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy to understand the photocatalytic reactions on the bulk semiconducting materials and highly dispersed metal oxide single-site heterogeneous catalysts at their working states. The first part focuses on the applications of PL spectroscopy to elucidate the surface active sites and surface band structures of the inorganic and organic bulk semiconducting photocatalysts at their working states. The second part describes the applications of in situ PL spectroscopy to elucidate the surface active sites of the highly dispersed metal oxide single-site heterogeneous catalysts and their roles in photocatalytic reactions at the molecular level. The last part is a brief conclusion and future direction of PL studies.

     

Single-atom catalysis for organic reactions

Metal-based catalysis, including homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, plays a significant role in the modern chemical industry. Heterogeneous catalysis is widely used due to the high efficiency, easy catalyst separation and recycling. However, the metal-utilization efficiency for conventional heterogeneous catalysts needs further improvement compared to homogeneous catalyst. To tackle this, the pursing of heterogenizing homogeneous catalysts has always been attractive but challenging. As a recently emerging class of catalytic material, single-atom catalysts (SACs) are expected to bridge homogeneous and heterogeneous catalytic process in organic reactions and have arguably become the most active new frontier in catalysis field. In this review, a brief introduction and development history of single-atom catalysis and SACs involved organic reactions are documented. In addition, recent advances in SACs and their practical applications in organic reactions such as oxidation, reduction, addition, coupling reaction, and other organic reactions are thoroughly reviewed. To understand structure-property relationships of single-atom catalysis in organic reactions, active sites or coordination structure, metal atom-utilization efficiency (e.g., turnover frequency, TOF calculated based on active metal) and catalytic performance (e.g., conversion and selectivity) of SACs are comprehensively summarized. Furthermore, the application limitations, development trends, future challenges and perspective of SAC for organic reaction are discussed.     

铈基催化剂在挥发性有机物催化燃烧治理中的研究进展

铈基催化剂由于其特殊的氧化还原性能在催化反应中得到了广泛应用,在非均相催化反应中其表面性质尤为重要.二氧化铈晶格中的氧缺陷对表面催化反应起着非常重要的作用,而二氧化铈可以有效调节催化剂表面酸碱性,修饰催化活性中心的结构,提高催化剂的储放氧能力,增强其结构稳定性和提高活性组分的分散度等.我们分别从二氧化铈催化剂的制备方法...     

非均相Fenton催化剂的组成结构设计与性能优化

非均相Fenton催化技术解决了均相Fenton反应存在的问题,具有pH适用范围广以及催化剂易于回收利用等优点,因而成为水处理领域的研究热点。本文首先介绍了非均相Fenton反应用于降解有机污染物的发展、反应机理以及机理的研究方法。总结了非均相Fenton催化剂的种类,主要包括铁氧化物、其它金属氧化物、金属有机框架材料。重点讨论了提高非均相Fenton催化剂活性及稳定性的方法,包括通过调控催化剂的形貌、尺寸、孔结构使催化剂具有更高的比表面积,将活性组分负载在具有高比表面积的载体上,通过与其它金属复合以及引入光、超声、微波等外场。最后,对非均相Fenton催化技术的发展进行了展望。     

A review on catalytic reduction/degradation of organic pollution through silver-based hydrogels

Various challenging pollutants are produced in the environment by organic materials of diverse industries including leather, paint, and textile. Nowadays, it is vital to develop efficient manners regarding the fundamental issues and removing pollutants. Such pollutants can be effectively removed from the environment through heterogeneous catalysts. Recently, a huge deal of interest has been attracted by hydrogel-based metal catalysts as heterogeneous and efficient catalysts. In this regard, silver with its unique features is suitable for environmental remediation. Hence, the present review deals with summarizing the present advances in the synthesis of silver-based hydrogel catalysts, as well as their applications for environmental remediation. Some advantages have been proposed using silver-based hydrogel catalysts suggested including high catalytic ability, reusability, easy work-up, and simple synthesis.     

Development of Sulfonic-Acid-Functionalized Mesoporous Materials: Synthesis and Catalytic Applications

Sulfonic acid based mesostructures (SAMs) have been developed in recent years and have important catalytic applications. The primary applications of these materials are in various organic synthesis reactions, such as multicomponent reactions, carbon–carbon bond couplings, protection reactions, and Fries and Beckman rearrangements. This review aims to provide an overview of the recent developments in the field of SAMs with a particular emphasis on the reaction scope and advantages of heterogeneous solid acid catalysts.     

Inorganic molecular sieves: Preparation,modification and industrial application in catalytic processes

The increasing environmental concern and promotion of “green processes” are forcing the substitution of traditional acid and base homogeneous catalysts by solid ones. Among these heterogeneous catalysts, zeolites and zeotypes can be considered as real “green” catalysts, due to their benign nature from an environmental point of view. The importance of these inorganic molecular sieves within the field of heterogeneous catalysis relies not only on their microporous structure and the related shape selectivity, but also on the flexibility of their chemical composition. Modification of the zeolite framework composition results in materials with acidic, basic or redox properties, whereas multifunctional catalysts can be obtained by introducing metals by ion exchange or impregnation procedures, that can catalyze hydrogenation–dehydrogenation reactions, and the number of commercial applications of zeolite based catalysts is continuously expanding.In this review we discuss determinant issues for the development of zeolite based catalysts, going from zeolite catalyst preparation up to their industrial application. Concerning the synthesis of microporous materials we present some of the new trends moving into larger pore structures or into organic free synthesis media procedures, thanks to the incorporation of novel organic templates or alternative framework elements, and to the use of high-throughput synthesis methods. Post-synthesis zeolite modification and final catalyst conformation for industrial use are briefly discussed.In a last section we give a thorough overview on the application of zeolites in industrial processes. Some of them are well established mature technologies, such as fluid catalytic cracking, hydrocracking or aromatics alkylation. Although the number of zeolite structures commercially used as heterogeneous catalysts in these fields is limited, the development of new catalysts is a continuous challenge due to the need for processing heavier feeds or for increasing the quality of the products. The application of zeolite based catalysts in the production of chemicals and fine chemicals is an emerging field, and will greatly depend on the discovery of new or known structures by alternative, lower cost, synthesis routes, and the fine tuning of their textural properties. Finally, biomass conversion and selective catalytic reduction for conversion of NOx are two active research fields, highlighting the interest in these potential industrial applications.     

Self‐Assembled Nanocomposite Organic Polymers with Aluminum and Scandium as Heterogeneous Water‐Compatible Lewis Acid Catalysts

While water‐compatible Lewis acids have great potential as accessible and environmentally benign catalysts for various organic transformations, efficient immobilization of such Lewis acids while keeping high activity and without leaching of metals even under aqueous conditions is a challenging task. Self‐assembled nanocomposite catalysts of organic polymers, carbon black, aluminum reductants, and scandium salts as heterogeneous water‐compatible Lewis acid catalysts are described. These catalysts could be successfully applied to various C? C bond‐forming reactions without leaching of metals. Scanning transmission electron microscopy analyses revealed that the nanocomposite structure of Al and Sc was fabricated in these heterogeneous catalysts. It is noted that Al species, which are usually decomposed rapidly in the presence of water, are stabilized under aqueous conditions.     

Functionalized isoxazole and isothiazole ligands: design,synthesis, palladium complexes,homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis in aqueous media

Homogenous and heterogeneous palladium catalysts with functionalized izoxazole and isothiazole ligands were developed for the cross-coupling reactions. The catalysts possessed high activity and were suitable for the repeated use. Compared with commonly used organic solutions, application of water and its mixtures with methanol as a reaction medium significantly intensifies catalysis with no side being formed. The obtained results are promising for the development of effective and ecologically friendly technologies of synthesis of important compounds such as polyfunctional biaryls, arylated olefins, acetylenes and their heterocyclic analogs.     

Multi-functional sites catalysts based on post-synthetic modification of metal-organic frameworks

Multi-functional sites MOFs have been explored as a new type of heterogeneous catalytic materials, which can be constructed by various post-synthetic modifications.     

Homochiral Covalent Organic Frameworks for Asymmetric Catalysis

Owing to their permanent porosity, highly ordered and extended structure, good chemical stability, and tunability, covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have emerged as a new type of organic materials that can offer various applications in different fields. Benefiting from the huge database of organic reactions, the required functionality of COFs can be readily achieved by modification of the corresponding organic functional groups on either polymerizable monomers or established COF frameworks. This striking feature allows homochiral covalent organic frameworks (HCCOFs) to be reasonably designed and synthesized, as well as their use as a unique platform to fabricate asymmetric catalysts. This contribution provides an overview of new progress in HCCOF-based asymmetric catalysis, including design, synthesis, and their application in asymmetric organic synthesis. Moreover, major challenges and developing trends in this field are also discussed. It is anticipated that this review article will provide some new insights into HCCOFs for heterogeneous asymmetric catalysis and help to encourage further contributions in this young but promising field.     

Preparation of nickel-mesoporous materials and their application to the hydrodechlorination of chlorinated organic compounds

Mesoporous materials have attracted considerable attention for use as a catalyst or a catalyst support due to their remarkable textural properties such as high surface area and large pore volume with a narrow pore size distribution. Many efforts have been made to design mesoporous materials for use in heterogeneous catalyst systems. Recent progress and results regarding the preparation of nickel-mesoporous materials and their application to the hydrodechlorination of chlorinated organic compounds were discussed in this review. Mesoporous materials were used as a support for nickel catalyst or a nickel-incorporated mesoporous catalytic material in this work. Two research areas were described and discussed in this review. One is the preparation of mesoporous alumina-supported nickel catalysts and their application to the hydrodechlorination of 1,2-dichloropropane and o-dichlorobenzene. The other is the preparation of mesoporous silica-supported nickel catalysts and their application to the hydrodechlorination of 1,1,2-trichloroethane and chlorobenzene.     

Recent Advances in Covalent Organic Frameworks for Catalysis

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) as an emerging type of crystalline porous materials, have obtained considerable attention recently. They have exhibited diverse structure and attractive performance in various catalytic reactions. It is highly expected to have a systematic and comprehensive review summing up COFs‐derived catalysts in homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, which is favorable to the judicious design of an efficient catalyst for targeted reaction. Herein, we focus on summarizing recent and significant developments in COFs materials, with an emphasis on both the synthetic strategies and targeted functionalization, and categorize it in accordance with the different types of catalytic reactions. Their potential catalysis applications are reviewed thoroughly. Moreover, a personal view about the future development of COFs catalysts with respect to the large‐scale production is also discussed.     

A new route to triphenylpyridines utilizing ketoximes as building blocks via cascade reactions under iron‐organic framework catalysis

Iron‐based metal–organic framework VNU‐20 was utilized as a heterogeneous catalyst for cascade reactions between ketoximes and dibenzyl ether to produce 2,4,6‐triphenylpyridines. Additionally, benzyl alcohol and (dimethoxymethyl)benzene could be used as an alternative starting materials for the transformation. The oxidant exhibited a remarkable impact on the reactions, and di‐tert‐butylperoxide was the most appropriate candidate. The VNU‐20 displayed higher efficiency than many homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts. The catalyst was reusable for the cascade reactions without a noticeable deterioration in catalytic activity. This transformation is new, and would offer alternative routes to triphenylpyridines utilizing ketoximes as building blocks.     

Engineering Metal–Organic Framework Catalysts for C−C and C−X Coupling Reactions: Advances in Reticular Approaches from 2014–2018

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are a class of crystalline porous materials that have been actively used for several industrial and synthetic applications. MOFs are spatially and geometrically extrapolated coordination polymers with intriguing properties such as tunable porosity and dimensionality. In terms of their catalytic efficiency, MOFs combine the easy recoverability of heterogeneous catalysts with the increased selectivity of biological catalysts. It is therefore not surprising that a lot of work on optimizing MOF catalysts for organic transformations has been carried out over the past decade. In this review, recent developments in MOF catalysis are summarized, with special attention being paid to C−C, C−N, and C−O coupling reactions. The influence of pore size, pore environment, and load on catalytic activity is described. Post-synthetic stabilization techniques and host–guest interactions in caged MOF scaffolds are detailed. Mechanistic aspects pertaining to the use of MOFs in asymmetric heterogeneous catalysis are highlighted and categorized.     

Modulated large-pore mesoporous silica as an efficient base catalyst for the Henry reaction

In this study, mesoporous silica materials with tuned pores and surface areas were successfully synthesized by adjusting the amount of applied hexane and controlling the hydrothermal temperature. The synthesized silica materials were then functionalized by an amine group to produce solid base catalysts and be applicable as efficient heterogeneous base catalysts for the Henry reaction. The mesoporous silica catalysts possessing large-pores and surface area expose their active catalytic sites and thereby improve contacts with reactants fulfilling the reactions expeditiously in comparison with solid base catalysts possessing small-pores and surface area. The results indicated that the yield of the products is significantly dependent on the structure of the applied solid base catalysts. The modulated large-pore solid base catalysts presented high catalytic activity in Henry reactions and could be reused for five consecutive cycles.     

High activity carbide supported catalysts for water gas shift

Nanostructured carbides are refractory materials with high surface areas that could be used as alternatives to the oxide materials that are widely used as support materials for heterogeneous catalysts. Carbides are also catalytically active for a variety of reactions, offering additional opportunities to tune the overall performance of the catalyst. In this paper we describe the synthesis of molybdenum carbide supported platinum (Pt/Mo(2)C) catalysts and their rates for the water gas shift reaction. The synthesis method allowed interaction of the metal precursor with the native, unpassivated support. The resulting materials possessed very high WGS rates and atypical Pt particle morphologies. Under differential conditions, rates for these catalysts were higher than those for the most active oxide-supported Pt catalysts and a commercial Cu-Zn-Al catalyst. Experimental and computational results suggested that active sites on the Pt/Mo(2)C catalysts were located on the perimeter of the Pt particles and that strong interactions between Pt and the Mo(2)C surface gave rise to raft-like particles.